How Much Is Sling TV?

Deciding on a streaming service can be a difficult choice when there are so many companies and plans to choose from. Many households subscribe to popular platforms like Netflix and Prime Video, but there are a multitude of other options including Sling TV, which had about 2 million subscribers as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

Sling TV is a streaming platform owned by Dish Network that has live TV, including sports, and on-demand shows and movies. There are no contracts and you can cancel at any time.

You can stream for free or pay for upgraded services with a subscription. Read on to find out the features each plan offers.

As the name implies, Sling Freestream is free. You don’t even need an account to access it, though creating one will give you a more personalized experience like being able to create a favorite watch list.

While shows include ads, Freestream has over 500 live TV channels and a library of 40,000 on-demand shows and movies.

If you’re looking for a no-cost solution for streaming and you don’t mind watching ads, Freestream could be a good choice. If you want the most current live program selections, Sling TV’s paid subscriptions provide that.

Sling TV has several paid subscriptions for live TV: Sling Orange, Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue. All of the plans are ad-supported, but include 50 hours of DVR storage so you could record shows and fast-forward through commercials.

Prices vary based on location, and first-month price promotions are common. Input your ZIP code on Sling’s website to see pricing and features available for each plan in your area.

Sling Orange typically costs $40 per month and comes with 32 channels, including seven sports and family channels like ESPN and Disney that can’t be found on Sling Blue’s plan. You’ll be able to stream on just one device at a time with the Orange plan.

Sling Blue varies from $40 to $45 per month depending on your location. With Sling Blue, you won’t get the family and sports channels available on Sling Orange, but you will get other channels that Orange doesn’t have like Bravo and FX. You can stream on up to three devices at one time on this plan.

Deciding between Sling Orange and Blue may not be a straightforward choice as each includes popular channels that the other doesn’t. Determining which one to go with comes down to what your viewing preferences are and the channels you want.

If you want access to all channels, you can get Sling Orange + Blue for $55 to $60 per month. This plan combines the Orange and Blue channel packages into one subscription. While you’ll pay a little extra for this plan, you won’t have to worry about missing a game on ESPN or not catching the latest reality shows on Bravo because you’ll have access to the full channel lineup.

One of the unique features of Sling TV is the ability to create your own add-ons, or Extras as Sling refers to them, to customize your viewing experience. Extras are mini-channel collections that can be added to your subscription.

There are specific offerings available for Orange and Blue plans so you’ll want to check Sling’s website to see which channel collections are available for your subscription type.

Extras range from $6 to $11 per month and include the following categories:

• Entertainment Extra: $6 per month for extra entertainment channels such as Paramount Network and MTV.

• Heartland Extra: $6 per month for outdoor sporting channels like Sportsman Channel.

• Hollywood Extra: $6 per month for movie-focused channels like Sundance TV and TCM.

• Kids Extra: $6 per month for children’s channels like Disney Junior and NickToons.

• Lifestyle Extra: $6 per month for lifestyle content such as Hallmark Channel and Cooking Channel.

• News Extra: $6 per month for national and world news channels like BBC World News and News Nation.

• Sports Extra: $11 per month for sports channels like NHL Network and MLB Network.

You also have an option to buy more than one Extra for a small cost savings. For instance, for $13 per month, you can get a bundle that includes four Extras, which is a savings of about $10 per month compared with buying each Extra without the grouped pricing.

For subscribers seeking premium channels, like Showtime or Starz, those can be added for an additional monthly fee. There are currently about 35 premium Extras to choose from, depending on where you live; they range in monthly price from $1.99 to $10.

A helpful budgeting method is the 50/30/20 budget, where you allocate 50% of your income to needs and minimum debt payments, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt repayment beyond those minimums.

A streaming service like Sling TV usually falls into the 30% wants category, meaning it would be nice to have but isn’t essential to your survival in the same way that needs are.

With hundreds of streaming services to choose from, knowing how much you can spend in your wants category — and what streaming features you value most — is a good starting point in making a selection.

You could look for ways to save money by reviewing Sling TV’s offerings to see if there are any deals you can score.

For instance, if you don’t want to commit to a paid subscription but Freestream doesn’t quite fit your needs, you could explore purchasing standalone channels. You don’t need a Sling base service to add Extras like Showtime or Starz. Standalone channels start at $3 per month.

You can also take advantage of Sling TV’s promotions, which we’ve seen with $10 to $25 off the first month.

If you need a streaming device, Sling TV currently gives new subscribers an AirTV Mini — a device optimized specifically for Sling — for free when you prepay two months.